In the commercial production of bakery products such as breads, buns, rolls, pies, cakes and pastries, glazes, icings and frostings have customarily been applied as coatings to the surfaces of the bakery products to enhance their flavor and customer appeal. Glazes have typically been used to seal the surface of the bakery product and to provide a glossy appearance to the product in the case where the product is not completely coated with an icing and/or to serve as a barrier between the relatively high-moisture bakery product and the relatively low-moisture icing. It is well-known in the bakery industry that if icings, which typically contain about 75% sugars and 15% water, are applied onto the surface of uncoated bakery products, moisture will migrate from the bakery product to the icing thereby resulting in the icing liquifying and becoming a sticky mass which will tend to flow from the surface of the product.
Glazes are generally of two types and are applied to the surface of the bakery product either before and/or after baking. Glazes which are applied before baking are typically made of whole eggs and water and may also contain various sugars, gums and starches. These glazes seek to provide a characteristic transparent, glossy, thin film on the surface of the bakery product. These baked glazes will also impart a brownish color to the surface of the product. These egg wash glazes are not used after baking as no gloss coat would be formed. The liquid egg-coating material must be carefully maintained below 40.degree. F. so as to reduce the development of off-flavors and microbial growth. These egg-containing glazes although widely used in the bakery trade are well-recognized as a potential source of quality control problems.
The glazes which have previously been utilized for application after baking have typically sought to replicate several egg components by the use of various starch and protein additives. These egg-free glazes usually contain one or more gums, a level of sucrose in excess of 40% by weight (dry basis) and a level of preservative (e.g., potassium sorbate) in excess of 9% by weight (dry basis). These prior art glazes have not been totally satisfactory in preventing passage of water from the baked good to any surface frosting or icing which may be applied to the glazed baked products.